Windies’ resurrection or England’s hour of gloom

Last week I was pretty surprised by the astonishing turn of events at the Sabina Park oval where England were playing the Windies. What an amazing game, England were 24/7 at one stage in their second essay after both teams scored over 300 runs in the first innings. England lost eventually by an innings when they were bowled out for 51.

Now, according to the form book England have done quite well recently and they played some good cricket while in India before their tour got abruptly shortened by the unfortunate events of 26/11. Then they had that bizarre showdown between the captain and coach resulting in both of them being sacked from their job. There was also some talk about players’ loyalty to either or both. Events such as these can be quite distracting and it demoralizes the team completely. Added to that was the anxiety about the IPL auction for season 2. I also think that Englishmen when they go to tour the Caribeans always get confused between holidays and work days. So they end up partying on work days. Some or all of these factors probably contributed to the amazing turn of events.

I don’t want to take anything away from the West Indies though. They batted really well to overtake the England score and then Jerome Taylor bowled that inspired spell of 9-4-11-5 in the second innings. Gayle and Sarwan scored centuries and were supported by some good batting down the order. Gayle also redeemed himself at the same venue where five years ago Steve Harmison took 7-12 and bowled out the West Indies for 47.

So I really don’t know if we are seeing a resurrection of the West Indies of the past or this is just a bad day at office for England, We will know as the series progresses, but let me tell you I for one will be very happy to see the Windies bounce back.

Ponting Goes?

After the Boxing Day test match I wrote that the blame for the Australian downward spiral lies with Ponting and he must go. Looks like in less than a month after that, Cricket Australia has also come to the same conclusion, but they are calling this “rest” rather than a “sack”. Now I wonder which player worth his salt would like to let go an opportunity to thrash a weak team (NZ) and win some critics back rather than take a leisurely holiday. Secondly, as Steve Waugh said, if from here Michael Clarke wins the series 4-1 then how do the selectors bring back Ponting? Therefore I think this is a subtle message to Ponting to step down. This is the hard Australian “Perform or Perish” policy at work. We have seen how ruthless these guys are and some recent examples are Mark Waugh, Mark Taylor and Steve Waugh.

Ponting is still a good batsman and a stellar fielder but the Aussies don’t have the tradition of ex-captains playing as normal players in the team. I think what Ponting also did not have was the true Australian sportsmanlike attitude. He was almost desperate to win at any cost and if that meant a Sydney like affair he would take that path with his eyes closed. He also influenced the players of his generation to play the same way and therefore possibly you have Hayden, Symonds and some others being loathed by other teams.

The other news that came from down under was the exclusion of Symonds from the SA tour. I think it is going to be very difficult for him to make a comeback. He is mentally not a very strong person and hence keeps getting in trouble with the authorities and players on a regular basis. Having talent is one thing and being able to handle the pressure and responsibility that comes with the role is another.

So it looks like a complete rebuilding of the Australian team is on the cards.